Order reserved on Tiwari`s plea on blood sample

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday
reserved its order on veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari`s
plea contending he cannot be compelled to give his blood
sample for DNA test on a paternity suit by a Delhi youth
claiming to be his biological son.

Justice Gita Mittal reserved the order after hearing
arguments by the counsel for Tiwari and that for 31-year-old
youth Rohit Shekhar who claims to be his biological son.

Appearing for Tiwari, advocate Bahar U Barqi cited
several Supreme Court judgements and said "I cannot be
compelled to give the blood sample or undergo any other test
like narco analysis."

The lawyer also submitted his client cannot be
pressurised to give even his nail, hair and skin for DNA test.

Appearing for Rohit, senior advocate Paramjit Singh
Patwalia argued 85-year-old Tiwari should comply with the
direction given by the single judge bench and duly upheld by
the court`s division bench and by the Supreme Court.

"This application is a gross misuse of process of law.
He (Tiwari) has scant regard for the court`s order. The
application is liable to be dismissed," the senior lawyer
said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court also pulled up Tiwari for
refusing either to admit or deny, through an affidavit, the
authenticity of more than 100 of his photographs along with
Rohit and his mother Ujjwala Sharma, submitted to the court.

Tiwari refused to admit or deny the authenticity of the
photographs saying he is a public figure, gets photographed
without prior notice and he cannot recall about the
photographs.

At this, the court said it would consider that Tiwari
has admitted the authenticity of all the photographs.
The court fixed August 16 to hear the main paternity
suit.

Tiwari had filed his application opposing the court`s
Joint Registrar`s order asking him to appear in the high
court`s dispensary on June 1 to give his blood sample for DNA
test.

On a paternity suit by Rohit, a single-judge bench of
the Delhi High Court had on December 23 last year asked Tiwari
to undergo the DNA test for ascertaining the veracity of his
claim that he is Tiwari`s biological son.

Refuting Rohit`s claim, Tiwari had challenged the high
court`s single-judge bench order before its division bench
which too had rejected his appeal, following which he had gone
in for an appeal to the apex court on February 28.

The apex court too had on March 14 refused to stay the
high court`s order for his DNA test, giving him, however, one
significant relief that the result of the test will not be
made public unless it is required.